Thursday, September 11, 2008

Number of witnesses: 2Number of objects: 1Shape of objects: spherical/gaseousWeather Conditions: Dead calm

Description: Object travelling South and looked to be descending as it was getting larger. It stopped moving briefly and remained almost still - I estimated its position at this point to be above Enfield Town Park. I dashed inside to get my camera and the object began to retreating back in the direction it came from by the time I got back outside a few seconds later. The object ascended and then just vanished either into low cloud or simply disappeared. I managed to take 3 photographs as the object moved away however these are very poor quality as I forgot to engage VR on my 300mm zoom lens and by this time the object was some distance away. I can supply these if required.

TV/Radio: I haven't heard anything about this sighting yet, although it's too early. I have researched some recent sightings in Enfield this morning and what I witnessed is consistent with the objects reported in the following account.

UFOINFO Note: As with other similar reports I asked the witness to have a look at the UFO Balloons website to see if this is what might have been seen and received the following reply:

Hi John

I did have a look at the ufo balloons link yesterday as suggested on your site - I've also seen video footage of a Chinese lantern filmed by a helicopter crew and I don't think either of these would have moved like this object. I must admit, what I saw had the colouring of a naked flame inside a balloon structure but that's the only resemblance. This certainly did not have the characteristics of a light-weight object carried by the wind and I also think it was way too bright for a small burner or candle. This object moved across the sky in a downwards trajectory travelling gracefully yet at a constant speed. As it descended, the light grew bigger whereupon it suddenly stopped mid-air and remained stationary long enough for me to rush inside, find my camera and get back outside again. The light then "reversed" in the exact direction it came from and ascended towards the cloud base and then either vanished completely or became obscured by cloud. As it moved away I managed to get three shots however, these are very distant and two of them are completely out of focus as I forgot to switch the lens Vibration Reduction on which prevents camera shake on long range pictures. The picture I've attached is the best image of the three and I've had to zoom in massively to get any detail, however it is a pretty good representation of how the object appeared when it was closest to me.

I've ruled out any type of aircraft as this was completely silent (besides which, I've been doing air show photography for over 20 years now and having photographed just about every type of aircraft, I can categorically say that I've never seen anything move or look like this).

The person with me that evening also witnessed this but she wishes to remain anonymous (hardly surprising given the reaction of the few people I've told so far).